The debate over the legalization of marijuana has been one of the most controversial issues ever to occur in the United States. Its use as a medicine has existed for thousands of years in many countries worldwide. Marijuana should be legalized for several reasons. First, the government could earn money from taxes on its sale. There would be more money for our country and less money ford the drug dealers. It also has medical purposes. Its value to the medical world outweighs its potential abuse. It will reduce crime rates. Many say that legalization of it will never happen but I feel it is inevitable. The government has a major roll in the legalization of marijuana. They unfairly make marijuana illegal when it has zero American annual deaths were tobacco and alcohol alone have about 500,000. One person who would have put his foot down towards the government is Thoreau. Henry David Thoreau was a man who lived by his own beliefs on the government. He felt is was reasonable and often right to disobey the government if they are irrational. The government is being illogical on the issue that if marijuana were to be legal, the country would prosper.

There are benefits of marijuana as medicine. Marijuana is known to be a much safer than cigarettes and alcohol. It is also safer than a lot of over-the-counter medicines. "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man" (For 2). It doesn't make sense for marijuana to be illegal when alcohol poisoning and premature deaths due to cigarette smoke are the leading deaths in America. Drinking too much in one day can kill you, but smoking too much marijuana in one day can only put you to sleep. "Marijuana also relieves nausea suffered by cancer patients undergoing powerful chemotherapy patients to have multiple sclerosis and AIDS also proved to be effective in the treatment of glaucoma because its use...

YOU MAY ALSO FIND THESE DOCUMENTS HELPFUL

...LegalizingMarijuana
Randy Scott
Soc 120
Martin DiBello
Feb 6, 2012
Marijuana is currently an illegal substance made from the dry leaves of a hemp plant. It contains over 400 chemicals. This substance has been given many different nicknames such as weed, pot, green, cannabis, skunk, and the list goes on. Marijuana has different psychological and physical effects. Marijuana is usually smoked in cigarette papers but can also be put in food and beverages. There are many different beliefs on whether marijuana should be legalized or not.
Marijuana has been around for centuries and has been used for medicine in the past. The Chinese has discovered as a medicine for healing purposes. Centuries later, a Chinese medical text (1578 A.D.) described the use of marijuana to treat vomiting, parasitic infections, and hemorrhage. Marijuana continued to be used in China as a folk remedy for diarrhea and dysentery and to stimulate the appetite. (Mack, Alison. Marijuana as Medicine: The Science Beyond the Controversy)
The Harrison Act of 1914 made it where a non-medical person cannot buy or possess any marijuana under the National Firearms Act and the Marijuana Tax Act. The Congress came up with a way such as; every person buying a firearm or marijuana had to pay a steep transfer fee and carry out the...

...Introduction
Are you aware that marijuana has been proven to help people with the pain of chronic illnesses, with less side effects then legal prescription drugs? Yet most states still have not legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. Many people are arrested in the United States for possession or smoking marijuana, yet on a regular basis, we have to let more severe hardened criminals out of jail because of overcrowding. The solution is simple; the numbers will show, we need to legalize marijuana in the United States. (2008 Marijuana Hydro. Facts about Marijuana Seed, LegalizingMarijuana).
Marijuana should be legalized in the United States.
What is Marijuana? According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws “Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America (behind only alcohol and tobacco). (NORML 2008) Marijuana is the most often used illegal drug in the country. Marijuana is an herb produced from the hemp plant. Marijuana has many different street names such as Aunt Mary, Dope, Grass, Weed Skunk, Pot, Reefer and Mary Jane. Marijuana is known as a hallucinogenic: however, in the early 1800’s to the late 1900’s the hemp plant was used for many other things,...

...LegalizingMarijuana
AshleyAnn Zenk
January 7, 2013
SOC 120: Introduction to Ethics and Social Responsibility
Instructor: David Strand
Let’s rewind the clocks and take ourselves back to the days when there wasn’t a care in the world. When people were caring, love was free, and marijuana was a hallmark of the counterculture. Bell bottoms and long hair wrapped in bandannas was the style to wear. Everyone drove muscle cars and listened to rock and roll. Yes, I am taking us back to the 1960’s. The real story here that I am trying to point out is people were able to smoke a joint standing on the street and you couldn’t get in trouble for having a bag of pot in your pocket. Now day’s getting caught with a joint could land you in jail, with a ticket, or on probation. It’s just pot, so what’s the issue? Throughout this paper I will explain why it’s not as big of an issue as people make it out to be.
The recreational use of marijuana has become legal (depending on your definition) in Colorado and Washington. Over a dozen other states have decriminalized possession of small amounts and Massachusetts recently became the 18th state to allow its use for medicinal purposes. Through federal law still bans both the sale and possession of marijuana president Obama has said the federal government has “bigger fish to fry” and won’t aggressively prosecute tokers in states where its use is legal. Pot smokers of...

...LegalizingMarijuana Abraham Lincoln once stated that, "Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." In today's society, this statement still applies in reference to the illegal use of marijuana. Marijuana prohibition causes far more harm than marijuana itself. Keeping marijuana illegal is expensive and causes crime. Out of four possible connections between drugs and crime, at least three would not exist if drug prohibition laws were repealed. First, crimes which occur billions of times a year are producing, selling, buying, and consuming strictly controlled and banned substances. If drug prohibition laws were repealed, these activities would obviously cease to be crimes. Next, many users commit crimes, such as robbery, dealing, prostitution, and running numbers to earn money to support their habits. If marijuana was less expensive and easier to obtain, which would be the case if it were legalized, the crimes committed under these circumstances would dramatically decline. The third drug-crime link I drug trafficking. Without prohibition laws, those people trying to make a living by selling and distribution would not be thrown in jail. Support for...

...﻿
LegalizingMarijuana
Currently in the state of North Carolina it is illegal to be in possession of marijuana. However there is a state bill currently working its way through the North Carolina legislative process. If this bill passes it would legalize medical marijuana. It is also important to remember that even if medical marijuana is made legal according to North Carolina fall, possession of marijuana for any purpose was still be illegal under federal law (Freeadvice: law, 2013).
In regards to the current state law, if you are arrested and charged with possession of marijuana in North Carolina, the penalties will depend upon the amount of marijuana in your possession and what your intentions are to do with it. The penalties for possession of marijuana in North Carolina can include incarceration, fines, and marijuana addiction treatment programs (Freeadvice: law, 2013).
If you are arrested and charged with possession of a synthetic form of marijuana for a concentrated form will typically bring stiffer penalties in North Carolina than possession of regular marijuana. The difference between a charge of possession vs. selling marijuana can be considered a difference between a felony and misdemeanor conviction depending upon the amount (Freeadvice:...

...Why Not to Legalize Marijuana
Marjorie Fleuridor
ENG/102
March 10, 2013
Professor Laura Barnes
Marijuana is one of the best known drugs that have been widely consumed throughout history which today raises a concerned eyebrow. Those who are advocates consider marijuana a harmless and beneficial substance because of its claimed value in treating symptoms of serious illness or diseases and Jeffrey Miron, a professor of economics at Harvard University in the following viewpoint believes that, “Legalizing illicit drugs would generate billions in tax revenue” (Forbes, 2012 pp.1-1). Just as any drug, marijuana may bring some type of relief with its use, but it also poses risk which in the end poses threat to the economy because of its affects to the human body, open doors to addiction, and worse, harms the youth which is not worth the added benefits for the few legitimate users to make acceptable.
Marijuana, which is also referred to as pot, weed, cannabis, refer, and Mary Jane to name a few, is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the U.S. as well as around the world which comes from the stems, seeds, leaves, and flowers of the hemp plant, which is also known as cannabis. Most individuals use the plant by either smoking it or mixing it into food because it is an all-natural substance. Registered nurse Mary Lynn Mathre states, “The cannabis plant...

...LegalizingMarijuana: An Ethical Perspective
In today’s society, many ethical concerns arise on a daily basis, especially when it comes to the topic of legalizingmarijuana. Many individuals have relied on the fact that marijuana was illegal, when determining whether smoking it should be considered unethical. However, many studies have shown that the effects of marijuana are not as detrimental as they were once made out to be. Legalizingmarijuana can be an extremely controversial topic because several people have strong beliefs concerning why it should not be legalized, while a significant amount of people have stronger arguments, as to why it should be legalized. When it comes to looking at the ethical standpoint of legalizingmarijuana, everyone has a different interpretation as to why marijuana should or should not be legalized. This is because everyone’s sense of morals and values differ from one another. Legalizingmarijuana for medicinal and recreational use would be beneficial for large amounts of people for many reasons.
The theory of utilitarianism implies that the proper course of action should be the one, which benefits the greatest number of people. Many aspects of legalizingmarijuana should be considered when determining if the benefits...

...December 3, 2012
The topic of marijuana has been a big topic for the past few years. The United States considers marijuana as a drug, in some other countries they say it is a natural herb that is grown from the ground. The issue at hand is “should marijuana be legalized?” the congress of the US stay in a constant debate on this subject. Why is the subject of marijuana such in high demand, if the US already considers it a drug? There are many facts that need to be looked at before a final decision can ever be made. In contrast since the past two weeks the state of Colorado became the second state in the US to legalize marijuana. Obviously it is possible for marijuana to be accepted into society, obviously there are as much pros as there are cons.
The correct name for marijuana is “cannabis.” Cannabis comes from the cannabis sativa plant. This plant is mainly grown in China, Africa, and some parts of the Caribbean and South America. In China the plant’s original usage was the strong hemp fiber that came from it, it was good for making fishing nets, and clothes, you can still find hemp fiber being used in ropes. Also many ancient civilizations soon discovered the hallucinogenic power the plant had when inhaled into the body, many Chinese, even the Indians began to smoke cannabis because in their minds it allowed them to connect one on one to their god. In years to...